Sites to Study
The National Staff Development Center cites a study completed by the
Louisiana Council on how to transform high-poverty, low-performing schools into
high-performing schools. Project investigators reported that “what surprises
you about high-poverty, high-performing schools is the whole positive
attitude, the can-do spirit. They’re very efficacious. They are human
bulldozers. They literally just roll over obstacles and they believe that no
obstacle is too great.” The researchers also found that in every school they
investigated that the principal and teachers were clear that the focus of
everything in the school was improving student learning. They found that the
principal was the key to establishing this standard and was willing to make the
tough stand. These principals put kids ahead of everything else. The
teachers said the principals cared about them but that they would always put the
children first. The focus on student learning was also the guiding point for
each school’s professional development. These schools began with an analysis
of student data and choosing staff development that would most likely lead to
improved student learning. Some of the schools involved in this study are as
follows:
G.T. Woods Elementary, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana-teachers worked in grade
level teams to examine student work and discussed ways to modify instruction to
better meet the needs of their students.
Mamou Upper Elementary , Evangeline Parish, Louisiana-teachers worked over
the summer to analyze disaggregated test data to identify weaknesses in grade
groups and to plan for each individual child on each teacher’s roster for the fall.
Carter Junior High, Rapids Parish, Louisiana-teachers conducted an individual
student academic analysis to develop an IEP-type plan for every student.
Sicily Island Elementary, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana- this is one of the
schools with the greatest gains in school performance during the year. Teachers
documented standards addressed in all of their lesson plans weekly. Teachers
could readily address how their daily lessons related to content standards.
In addition, investigators found that students were on-task and wellbehaved. Procedures were understood by all and discipline was fair and
consistent. Students felt loved and secure. Staffs were generally stable.
Working conditions were conducive to doing good professional work.
Centennial Place Elementary School, Atlanta, Georgia- focuses on science,
math and technology through project based work, collaboration, and
interdisciplinary teaching.
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93% African American
69% Low-income
In 2002, performed in the top 12% of Georgia schools in 4th grade math; Top
7% in 2003
In 2002, performed in the top 7% of Georgia schools in 4th grade reading; Top
3% in 2003
Hambrick Middle School, Aldine, Texas-concentrated on establishing
educational goals based on the standards and on sustaining student success
from year to year.
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94% African American and Latino
85% low-income
Has performed in the top fifth of all Texas middle schools in both reading and
math in both 7th and 8th grades over a 3-year period.
Inman Middle School, Atlanta, Georgia-whole school reform design using Core
Knowledge Program. (www.coreknowledge.org)
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60% Low income
60% African American and Latino (58% African American and 2% Latino)
Outperformed about 95% of other Gerogia schools on average in both 2001
and 2002
Over 90% of 6th graders, 7th graders, and 8th graders met state standards in
reading in 2002
Additional sites:
Blackwater Community School, Gila River Indian Reservation-Year Round
School, all teachers became certified in Reading Recovery, strong new teacher
mentoring program, strengthened family program by enrolling a child in the
school as soon as it is born, home visits based on Born To Learn Curriculum,
sends each child a book a month until the age of five, technology component that
is also available to the community as a free service, computer-based template for
lesson planning that is tied to a rubric, time audits of instruction, class protocols
to keep the class moving.
Joint School District #2, Meridian Idaho-uses MAPs testing, teaches reading
and math by RIT level than by classroom assignment; find more materials to
challenge the “high-end” students. www.meridianschools.org/district/
Myrtle Beach Intermediate, Horry County, Myrtle Beach, SC- teachers
collaborate using computerized adaptive assessment (MAPs), Title 1 school, 4th
and 5th grades, Excellent Rating. www.hes.k12.sc.us/middle/mbm/
Myrtle Beach Middle School, Horry County, Myrtle Beach, SC-students
complete a personalized learning plan, data drives decisions (MAPs), Excellent
Rating. www.hes.k12.sc.us/middle/mbm/
Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District 11, Minneapolis, Minn.- school
web connections for families where parents may check their child’s attendance,
bus schedules, school menu, grade books, assignments. www.anoka.k12.mn.us
Conyers Middle School, Conyers, Georgia-1,000 students with 47% poverty
rate, adopted a systemic approach to implement an overall improvement plan,
prioritized standards with 9 week benchmarks including diagnosis and
assessment, reading taught each day for 50 minutes during 1 st period,
connections math classes, immediate assessments through EduSoft software.
www.rockdale.k12.ga.us
Groves High School, Savannah, Georgia-1,540 students with 65% AfricanAmerican, old campus with 10 separate buildings, put first time freshmen
together and used pathways model to create small learning communities, spent
more time on teacher evaluations.
Wiggs Middle School, El Paso, Texas-850 students with 85% Hispanic, 35
African-American, 33% White, 2% Hispanic, poverty rate of 75%, empowered
teachers to make decisions and held them accountable, training in National
Science Foundation’s Urban Systemic Initiative, uses Connect Math.
Booker T. Washington High School, Memphis, Tennessee-founded in 1860,
600 students who are all African-American, 23% are special education students,
Efforts focused on keeping the lower quartile in school in a safe and successful
environment, has a daycare center to allow students to stay in school.
Central High School, Omaha, Nebrasks-focused on providing support systems
for gifted minority students using the Minority Scholars Program (402-896-0589).
S.C. Carolina First Palmetto’s FinestIndependence Elementary School, Rock Hill, SC-2004-05 Winner,
Title 1 School, focus on literacy and curriculum integration, after-school
mentoring program for at-risk students in upper elementary grades.
Newington Elementary School, Dorchester 2- 2003-04 Winner, Title 1.
Wellford Elementary School, Spartanburg 5- 2001-02 Winner, also a Title I
school.
Internet Sources for Additional Information
www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=61
Education Week Web site has much information to begin to understand the
achievement gap issues. Check out its “Issues: A-Z” section.
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/mathematics/results
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/results
Look at achievement results from across the United States using this site from
the National Center for Educational Statistics. The “Subgroup Results for the
Nation” link compares the achievement of groups of students by gender,
ethnicity, eligibility for free and/or reduced price lunch, level of parent education,
type of school, and community type.
www.cgcs.org/reports/beat_the_oddsIV.html
This site has information provided by The Council of the Great City Schools.
Beating the Odds gives analysis of student performance on state assessment
and analysis of achievement gap measures.
www.ets.org/research/pic/parsing.pdf
This Educational Testing Service Web site offers a download of their report
Parsing the Achievement Gap. This report identifies factors that create the
achievement gap.
www.aacte.org/press_room/ECEpaper.pdf
This is the site of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
which presents The Early Childhood Challenge.
This report shows that the gap exists when students arrive at kindergarten.
www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page+/html/issue.asp?issucid=104
This is the Web site of the Education Commission of the States. Check out the
“What States Are Doing” section, “Quick Facts”, and “Selected Research and
Reading” sections.
www.edtrust.org
This is the Web site for the nonprofit organization The Education Trust whose
mission is to work for the high academic achievement of all students. This site
includes fact sheets and publications about the gap and equity issues. There is a
new Spanish-language section to give resources for Latino parents and others at
www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/spanish.
www.msanetwork.org
This is the Web site of The Minority Student Achievement Network whose
mission is to develop and implement practices to ensure high academic
achievement for students of color.
www.gatesfoundation.org
This is the Web site for the education and child welfare resources from The Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation. Check out the model Schools page at
www.gatesfoundation.org/Education/TransformingHighSchools/ModelSchools which has
descriptions of 23 innovative high school models and other information.
www.annenberginstitute.org
This is the site of another organization that supports research for school reform,
the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.
www.ascd.org
Visit the ASCD site What Works in Schools model by Robert Marzano. There is
also a What Works in Schools Online Survey (www.whatworksinschools.org) that allows
educators to create a profile of how their school addresses the factors that
influence student achievement and then target areas identified for improvement.
www.nwea.org
The Web site of the nonprofit group Northwest Evaluation Association. Our
district uses this group’s computerized adaptive assessment for language arts,
reading, and mathematics. Science assessment is also available.
www.schoolsmovingup.net
Visit the Schools Moving Up, a WestEd initiative, which profiles schools across
the country who are finding ways to make the changes needed to improve
student achievement.
(Some of this information is found through the work of Carolyn Pool, ASCD
Books Acquisition Editor).
Suggested readings:
Allington, R.L. (2001). What Really Matters for Struggling Readers, Designing
Research-Based Programs. New York: Longman/Addison-Wesley
Educational Publishers, Inc.
Bennett, A., Bridgall, B.L., Cauce, A.M., Everson, H.T., Gordon, E.W., Lee, C.D.,
Mendoza-Denton, R., Renzulli, J.S., Stewart, J.K. (2004). All Students
Reaching the Top: Strategies for Closing Academic Achievement Gaps,
A Report of the National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of
Academic Ability. Naperville, IL: Learning Point Associates.
Danielson, C. (2002). Enhancing Student Achievement, A Framework for
School Improvement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development.
Gregory, G.H, & Chapman, C. (2002). Differentiated Instructional Strategies,
One Size Doesn’t Fit All. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Haberman, M. (1995). STAR Teachers of Children in POVERTY. West
Lafayette, IN: Kappa Delta Pi.
Hrabowski, F.A., Maton, K.I. & Greif, G.L. (1998). Beating The Odds, Raising
Academically Successful African American Males. New York: Oxford
University Press.
ILIAD Project and The National Alliance of Black School Educators. (2002).
Addressing Over-Representation of African American Students in Special
Education:The Preferral Intervention Process-An Administrator’s Guide.
Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.
Kids Count Data Book, State Profiles of Child Well-Being. (2003). Baltimore,
MD: the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Kohn, A. (1996). Beyond Discipline, From Compliance to Community.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Kottler, Jeffrey A. (2002). Students Who Drive You Crazy, Succeeding With
Resistant, Unmotivated, and Otherwise Difficult Young People. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Kuykendall, C. (1991). From Rage to Hope, Strategies for Reclaiming Black &
Hispanic Students. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.
Littky, D, with Grabelle, S. (2004). The BIG Picture, Education Is Everyone’s
Business. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., & McTighe, J. (2001). Classroom instruction that
Works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
North Carolina State Board of Education. (2001, December). The North
Carolina Commission on Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps, First
Report to the State Board of Education. Raleigh, NC: Author.
Payne, R.K. (1996). A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Highlands,
TX: aha! Process, Inc.
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2002). How to Improve Student Learning, 30 Practical
Ideas. Dillon Beach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking.
Reeves, D.B. (2004). Accountability for Learning, How Teachers and School
Leaders Can Take Charge. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
And Curriculum Development.
Rimm, S. (1995). Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades and What You Can Do
About It, A Six-Step Program for Parents and Teachers. New York:
Three Rivers Press.
Schlechty, P. (1997). Inventing Better Schools, An Action Plan for Educational
Reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Company.
Schlechty, P. (2002). Working On The Work, An Action Plan for Teachers,
Principals, and Superintendents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, A
Wiley Company.
Schmoker, M. (2001). The Results Fieldbook, Practical Strategies from
Dramatically Improved Schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
South Carolina Department of Education. (2001, May). Report of the AfricanAmerican Student Achievement Committee and Work Groups. Columbia,
SC: Author.
Thornburg, D. (2002). The New Basics, Education and the Future of Work in
The Telematic Age. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
Tileston,D. (2004). What Every Teacher Should Know About Effective Teaching
Strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Tileston, D. (2004). What Every Teacher Should Know About Classroom
Management and Discipline. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Tileston, D. (2004). What Every Teacher Should know About Student
Motivation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Tomlinson, C.A., Kaplan, S.N., Renzulli, J.S., Purcell, J., Leppien, J., Burns, D.,
The Parallel Curriculum, a Design to Develop High Potential and
Challenge High-Ability Learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Upchurch, C. (1996). Convicted In The Womb, One Man’s Journey From
Prisoner To Peacemaker. New York: Bantam Books.